Bali Police chief supports methadone program<\/p>\n
I Wayan Juniartha, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali<\/p>\n
Bali Police chief Insp. Gen. Made Mangku Pastika expressed on
\nTuesday his support for the Harm Reduction-based Methadone
\nMaintenance Treatment Program (MMT) in local prisons as part of
\nthe effort to curb the spread of HIV\/AIDS among convicted or
\ndetained Injecting Drug Users (IDUs).<\/p>\n
His support will pave the way for local prison authorities,
\nhealth workers and non-governmental organizations to put MMT into
\neffect in four local prisons across the province as early as next
\nOctober.<\/p>\n
\"I certainly will support this effort as long as its ultimate
\ngoal is to help people free themselves from drug addiction,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
This was the first official support publicly voiced by a
\nsenior police officer for the Harm Reduction approach, which for
\nyears had been accused of promoting drug use.<\/p>\n
Pastika expressed his support during a meeting with Bali's
\njoint commission for HIV\/AIDS prevention.<\/p>\n
Comprised of officials from the Ministry of Health, Ministry
\nof Justice and Human Rights, prison authorities and the
\nIndonesian HIV\/AIDS Prevention and Care Project (IHPCP-AUSAID)
\nthe commission was seeking Pastika's support for the treatment
\nprogram to commence.<\/p>\n
\"In fact, I have already asked my men to treat drug users
\ndifferently from drug dealers. Drug users are just the victims
\nand not the criminals,\" Pastika said.<\/p>\n
A synthetic opioid, methadone is widely used in detoxification
\nand rehabilitation facilities around the world to ease the
\nwithdrawal symptoms generally experienced by heroin users who are
\ntrying to free themselves from their addiction. In the longer
\nterm, methadone is also one of the most effective and safe
\nmedications for substitution therapy.<\/p>\n
\"Numerous studies in various countries have shown that
\nmethadone is an effective substitute for heroin. It is safe and
\ndoes not cause any toxicity in long-term use,\" Ratna Mardiati of
\nthe health ministry said.<\/p>\n
Methadone, with its longer-lasting effect, ranging between
\n15 hours and 32 hours, also provides its users with more time to
\nmanage their personal and professional life compared to heroin,
\nwhose effects last between 3 hours and 5 hours.<\/p>\n
\"The parents of drug-users currently undergoing MMT in the
\nDrug Dependency Hospital (RSKO) in Jakarta say that their
\nchildren's behavior and attitudes have gotten better,\" Ratna
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The RSKO Jakarta and Sanglah Hospital in Bali were the sites
\nfor WHO-funded MMT clinic pilot projects. Around 92 IDUs
\nregistered for the MMT in Sanglah.<\/p>\n
\"The problem arises when an MMT participant is arrested by
\npolice and is then sent to prison, where methadone is
\nunavailable. This person might start injecting heroin again and
\nwaste all the previous effort,\" the IHPCP's harm reduction
\nadvisor, Palani Narayan, said.<\/p>\n
Injecting drug users are critical to the spread of HIV\/AIDS.<\/p>\n
The number of HIV-infected injecting drug users has been
\nincreasing at an alarming rate all around the world. The risky
\nhabit of sharing needles and other injecting paraphernalia has
\nbeen acknowledged as the most efficient, fastest and convincing
\nway of transmitting HIV\/AIDS. The problem is particularly acute
\nin prisons, where the prisoners have no access to sterile
\nneedles, something that makes the prison population particularly
\nvulnerable to the spread of HIV\/AIDS.<\/p>\n
\"In 2000, out of around 60 IDUs in detention, up to 50 percent
\nof them tested HIV positive,\" Kerobokan prison medical officer AA
\nNgr. Hartawan said.<\/p>\n
Since methadone is taken orally, MMT frees the IDUs from the
\nnecessity of acquiring injecting paraphernalia, and thus curbs
\nthe spread of HIV\/AIDS.<\/p>\n
With the police's support, the joint commission will set up
\nthe necessary mechanisms for ensuring that an injecting drug user
\nwho participates in MMT will still receive methadone even if he
\nor she is arrested and incarcerated in a police lockup or state
\nprison.<\/p>\n
\"We will implement this program step by step. We don't want to
\nscare people,\" Palani told.<\/p>\n
As of April, there were 325 people recorded as being infected
\nwith HIV on Bali, although the actual number could reach 3,500.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bali-police-chief-supports-methadone-program-1447893297",
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